the return of madness, or a tribute to my father

have i ever told you guys about my dad?? i'm sure that some of the people at barnes and noble may have had the experience of meeting him. or at least of witnessing him. i feel motivated by an email he sent me today, as well as by his recent posts here, to write a semi-tribute to him. (although possibly one of the most important essays i have written in my life, my graduate school application essay, was essentially a tribute to him). here goes:

i think my dad is an amazing guy. and completely unappreciated. well, actually strike that. that's not true at all. i think he's very appreciated. (and i in no way want to undermine the bond that my parents share. because judging by what i know of them, they appreciate each other more than anything else in the world. except for maybe me. cause i'm their favorite.) i just think that sometimes his humor and intellect goes unappreciated. or maybe i'm full of shit and don't know what i'm talking about. either way, i think that he is both one of the most mature, eloquent, and intelligent people i know, while at the same time being one of the most goofy, asinine, and childish people that i know. (and i use the word "childish" here not in a negative way, by any means. i think that actually being referred to as "childish" can be a great compliment, depending on the user's meaning) (though i suspect he knows exactly what i mean here)

okay i totally lost my train of thought. point of the story is, i owe a lot to my father. i cherish the times where we can have a deep, serious conversation, only to be followed up by fits of giggling over something very trivial, like a noise he repeatedly made while blowing his nose with a napkin. (it was damn hilarious, i tell you!) or for another example, this post he made to my blog on trilogies and hitchhikers, specifically "salmon of doubt", (which is awesome since he's the one who taught me about hitchhikers early on): "I think Adams was inspired by the Foundation Trilogy, which is a fantastic read, though sometimes mule-ish. I wonder what a salmon of doubt would say to a penguin of destiny, other than *blub* *blub*." that for sure made me giggle.

one trait i definitely picked up from my father is a love of quotations (as you can see from his comments to my last post). so with that segue, i'm going to share a couple of vonnegut quotes that i liked today (and that i imagine he will also appreciate):

"i'm wild again, beguiled again, a whimpering, simpering child again. bewitched, bothered, and bewildered am i"

"you've been sick, but now you're well again, and there's work to do"

and from einstein, as quoted by vonnegut: "the most beautiful thing we can experience is the mysterious. it is the source of all true art and science"


i think at some point i'll continue with the stories and tributes to other amazing, wonderful people in my family, as well as perhaps picking back up that train of thought about my dad wherever it derailed. at a number of points in the past few years i've had the desire to write them all long, sentimental cards expressing to them just how much they mean to me. the thought of them receiving a card like that out-of-the-blue makes me smile. (though when i did send them random text messages that i loved them, they thought that something serious was going on, like i was about to jump off a bridge) anyways, i somehow always manage to not write these cards, probably cause i think that i won't be able to express in writing what i'm really feeling. or i'm afraid that it'll sound forced. or cheesy. anyways, maybe instead i'll just post some stuff here from time to time, and if they happen upon it, it may just make their day. = )


i'll leave you with a quick story from today: i saw a girl at the gym wearing a shirt that read "5th grade class of 1998". to which i thought, "she must be someone's younger sister". until i did the mental math, and realized that, in fact, she was starting out as an undergrad. this blew my mind for three reasons:
1. holy crap i'm old (i know, technically i'm young. but this was my first real "shit i'm old" thought)
2. they make shirts for 5th grade classes?!?
and finally,
3. she's *still* wearing the shirt from her 5th grade class????

Posted by *erin* | 8:23 PM